Baroque Era - Medusa

 Who was Medusa?

Medusa is a long-known legend that originated in Rome and Greece. She is known as the woman who has snakes for hair and could turn anyone who made eye contact with her into stone. Although, before she was cursed by Athena, a virgin goddess of wisdom and battle, she was a beautiful, young, and kind woman. She was also the priestess to Athena, meaning she was also a virgin and was learning the ways of Athena and being her trustworthy sidekick (Jaya, 2021).

When Poseidon saw Medusa, he fell in love with her and quickly became obsessed. He advanced to Medusa but she rejected him. Poseidon did not take kindly to this, and since he was rejected, he took it upon himself to rape Medusa and humiliate her by raping her on the steps to Athena's cathedral. Athena then cursed Medusa since she was no longer a virgin, by turning her hair into snakes and turning anyone who looked into her eyes to stone (Jaya, 2021).

Medusa, 1597 by Caravaggio

Medusa, 1597 by Caravaggio

Medusa, 1597 by Caravaggio was made as a paid commission for the Medici family, which shows the influence of royalty as they were hiring many artists day in and day out for many art pieces (Lesso, 2022). He actually made two, but the one shown above was the one made as a commission. This piece was made somewhere in Italy, which lines up considering he was an Italian baroque artist. Caravaggio had a very disturbing childhood, as he grew up in a very violent time of war (Graham-Dixon, 2024). He seemed to depict a lot of this in his art, as most of the pieces do have a disturbing look to them. The Collector states "Caravaggio based the face of Medusa on his own image – yep, that’s right, that gaping mouth and contorted, severed head oozing blood was in fact a self-portrait. This makes Caravaggio’s female character take on an androgynous and asexual quality. But basing Medusa on his own face was mostly practical – it meant Caravaggio could explore the haunting horror of Medusa’s facial expression by contorting some strange grimaces in a mirror, rather than asking a model to do it for him." (Lesso, 2022). So the image overall, seems to have been made with the intent of disturbing and violent images, as well as the aspect of it being his own face, makes it creepier.

The Art, Its Contents

The art depicted in the photo is quite gruesome and disturbing. You can see her head being decapitated from her body, her mouth gaping and her eyes open. This gives the impression that she is still alive even after being decapitated. Many elements are shown in this art piece, but to narrow it down, perspective and lines are a big part of the artwork. Lines are used to show the mess below the chin. Which exposes blood, muscle, and the overall disturbing image of the decapitated head of Medusa. So the lines can give us a picture of moving blood and an awakened and startled face. Perspectives with a dark background help to make the face stand out and make a point with one glance at the art, which may also fall under contrast. 

My Opinion That No One Asked For

I feel that Caravaggio took a symbol of strength and used it to stroke his man ego. Medusa is still used today as a symbol of survivors of sexual assault. I personally have a Medusa tattoo as well as many other women. It is a sign of empowerment and the struggles we had to go through, but we made it through that, so we can make it through anything. Caravaggio thought he could use this story of a powerful woman who was raped and then cursed, to show that he isn't scared of her, which is sickening. She was made into a monster after one of the most traumatic things someone can go through, and he just took that to show how "strong" he is (which is very much a term I use lightly). Although I am sure times then were different, I don't like the implication and sense of superiority Caravaggio is trying to convey in this art. It seems selfish and cowardly for him to even try to compare himself to such a powerful creature that is now used to empower women.

References

                Graham-Dixon, Andrew. “Caravaggio | Italian Painter.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 4 Feb. 2019,                             www.britannica.com/biography/Caravaggio.

                Jaya, Sree. “What Does It Take to Feel Sympathy for a Monster?” Medium, 15 Mar. 2021,                                     medium.com/paperkin/what-does-it-take-to-feel-sympathy-for-a-monster-3f88a2727b0c.

                Lesso, Rosie. “Why Did Caravaggio Paint Medusa?” TheCollector, 21 Mar. 2022,                                                     www.thecollector.com/why-did-caravaggio-paint-medusa/.